Scotland's aquifers and groundwater bodies

This report, published in 2015, was written jointly by BGS and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). The report is written in the form of a manual for those with some technical groundwater (hydrogeological) knowledge, but also includes summaries for non-specialists.

A comprehensive synthesis

Scotland's aquifers and groundwater bodies provides an up to date overview of Scotland's aquifers, their hydrogeology and their baseline groundwater chemistry. It also gives an introduction to groundwater and groundwater management in Scotland, and describes the process of delineating groundwater bodies, which are the basis of groundwater management in Scotland under the Water Framework Directive.

Scotland's vital groundwater

Groundwater occurs almost everywhere in Scotland. It is a key water source for drinking, agriculture, industry (including the bottled water and whisky sectors), and recreation (including golf course irrigation), and therefore plays an important role in Scotland's economy. Groundwater is also vital to the health of Scotland's environment, supporting surface water ecosystems, helping to dilute and assimilate contaminants, and mitigating flooding.